1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of placing chip-type electrical and/or electronic components on a substrate, in which a number of components are simultaneously picked up in presentation positions by means of a pick-up device which comprises a number of pick-up elements, after which the pick-up device is moved to a position over the substrate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A method of the kind which forms the subject of the present invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,116. According to the known method, the components are stacked in magazines and the magazines are arranged in a lattice-like pattern. Over the lattice-like pattern there is arranged a pick-up device which picks up a component from each of the magazines by suction, after which it transports these components to the substrate and simultaneously deposits them in the appropriate positions on the substrate. The known method and device are very well suitable for those cases where a large number of components must to be deposited each time in the same pattern on the same kind of substrate.
It is a drawback of the known device that the probability of errors is rather high during the periodic replacement of empty magazines by full magazines; moreover, during the filling of the magazines incorrect positioning of the components in the magazines can readily occur.
It is a further drawback that the lattice has a fixed subdivision which is usually too coarse to achieve optimum filling of a substrate.
When for some reason no component has been picked up from one magazine and deposited on the substrate, correction can be performed only at a later stage.
Each type of substrate requires a separate lattice, which implies high tooling costs for each type of substrate.
Also known are devices which comprise a single pick-up device which at each operation picks up one component, which is subsequently placed in the required position on the substrate. The pick-up device is controlled so that it can be positioned over each position on a substrate in accordance with a given program. The work rate of such a device is low.